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How will the data be used?

Several recreational fishermen have asked for an opportunity to provide fishery managers with information about their catch to improve management. This is your chance to tell the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council what you caught. The Council has teamed up with the Snook and Gamefish Foundation to develop the MyFishCount app and website to allow anglers the ability to provide information to decision makers to help improve management. Please remember that this is a pilot project.Information collected here may be used for future management. Or, the information could be used to improve data available on our fisheries and understanding recreational reporting. Your entries are very important and helpful.

Inform Future Decisions on Recreational Reporting - Your use of the MyFishCount website or app will help the Council make decisions for future recreational reporting projects and management. The app is available for download from the Google Play and App Store.

Improve Understanding of Angler Behavior and Trends– Information on trends in fishing behavior can influence how fisheries are managed. For example, MyFishCount can help managers estimate the percent of anglers using venting or descending practices to treat fish that experience barotrauma (a condition caused when a fish is rapidly reeled to the surface from deep depths resulting in the inflation of organs from expanded gases). In turn, managers can better estimate how many fish die when released.

Improve Estimates of Released Fish –Good management requires information on all fish caught, including those that are released. However, estimates of released fish, and particularly how many of those released fish die, can be uncertain. Issues like this concern all anglers. Managers need more information on depth fished, size of released fish, hook location, and release treatment to make better decisions in the future.

Improve Fisheries Management – The impacts to the fish and people who fish for them must be examined for every management decision. Sometimes there are not enough data to make an informed decision. The more information received from anglers like you, the better managers can understand how changes in fisheries regulations may impact everyone who likes to fish.